Throughout various industries, such as aircraft manufacturing, residues and contamination on surfaces of various materials often need to be analyzed.
One available testing method for surface analysis is Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization (“MALDI”) mass-spectrometry analysis, wherein a sample is ablated, ionized, and then subjected to electric or magnetic fields. Since the ionized sample is destroyed in the process, archival of the sample and/or multiple measurements thereof are not possible. Furthermore, mass-spectrometry is bulky and expensive, which prevents on-site testing and, accordingly, increases the time and cost of material analysis.
Alternatively, non-destructive photo spectroscopy may be used to analyze surface contamination on the material. Trace levels of residue must often be extracted from the surface and concentrated by evaporating an extraction solvent before spectroscopic analysis. However, there are no reliable means to evenly deposit the residue on a surface that is compatible with spectroscopic analysis in a reproducible manner. Furthermore, traditional methods of infrared spectroscopy are not conducive to archiving the sample for subsequent measurements, since the sample is typically cleaned off of spectrometer window.